Government urged to tackle Gulf states funding Islamic terrorism

THE GOVERNMENT is under pressure to act against wealthy Gulf states accused of funding Islamic terrorism after the murder of British hostage Alan Henning.

PUBLISHED: 12:31, Sun, Oct 5, 2014

Saudi Arabia and Qatar have been accused of funding Islamic State[GETTY/REUTERS]

Qatar and Saudi Arabia have been accused of funding the Islamic State, also known as Isil, by two retired general and a former defence secretary.

The three senior figures have called on the government to take action against Gulf leaders who have been accused of turning a blind eye as tens of millions of pounds is donated by wealthy citizens to militants abroad.

Speaking to The Telegraph, Lord Dannatt, a former Chief of General Staff, said that these regimes should be forced to stop the fundraising before being allowed to invest in UK projects.

Qatar has invested heavily in major British landmarks, and owns Harrods and The Shard in London.

General Sir Richard Dannatt called for the UK to tackle Gulf state funding of terror [ PA]

Lord Dannatt said: "It is not just governments in Doha or Riyadh that need to take action, but those in London and elsewhere have a responsibility to act too.

"It is not acceptable, for example, to welcome large capital injections into prestige projects like The Shard in London while not exerting the strongest pressure on the Qatari Government to crack down on some of their own citizens."

He was supported by General John Shaw, a former Assistant Chief of Defence Staff, and former Defence Secretary Liam Fox.

Liam Fox said that Islamic militants were "well-funded" by rich individuals [AP]

Dr Fox said: "Isil is well-funded.

"Money has been flowing from rich individuals in the Gulf states, if not their governments, to finance them and their Sunni allies in their battle against the Assad regime."

A former head of the armed forces called for cuts to the army to be reversed in order to tackle the threat from the Islamic State.

Lord Richards of Herstmonceux told BBC1's Andrew Marr show that the UK could be looking at a "generational struggle" and said he believed that "we need to go back to the drawing board and revise the size of the regular Army back up again".

His comments come as Britain and seven other EU countries are pushing for new measures to stop jihadists returning from Syria or Iraq to Europe.

Restricted freedom of movement rights and increased border controls are being called for to stop the possibility of some of the estimated 3,000 'foreign fighters' carrying out an attack on home soil.